Toesy Toes

by Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang

Toes have long had their place in songs, where they head off to market and enjoy roast beef, but they have been overlooked and underrepresented in children's books.

That's all about to change with this rhyming board book featuring piggledy-wiggledy digits in all their delightful glory. Toesy Toes head to the beach, jump around, take a bath and delight in being one of a baby's most adorable parts. Sarah Tsiang's clever couplets will have little ones reaching for this book come story time, perhaps even with their toes.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Photography, Storytime, Bodies, Fiction

26 pages, Board book

First published April 10, 2018

Reviews

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS]

All about me: Toes

Such an excellent book full of diverse skin color, hair color, and a delightful array of names. This is perfectly suited for the younger crowd (4 words per page, crisp photography, and smiling babies) and I can't wait to get my hands and toes on more from Tsiang.

Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth and School Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Kelsey]

Age: Baby-Toddler (board book)
Body: Toes

Such an excellent book full of diverse skin color, hair color, and a delightful array of names. This is perfectly suited for the younger crowd (4 words per page, crisp photography, and smiling babies) and I can't wait to get my hands and toes on more from Tsiang.

[Aaron Dietz]

Just super weird. I don't get people who are into baby toes as a cute thing but like, this didn't seem like it was written for them, either.

[Paula]

This cute board book will be a hit with the very little ones. Photographs of different babies showing their toes; toes on the beach covered with sand, a baby squeezing its toe, and toes in the bathtub surrounded by soap bubbles. Babies of many colors and in many different situations not often seen in baby books, are portrayed. A naked baby rinsing it’s toes, a baby being breastfed and a mom holding her baby in the air wearing a hijab are the most prominent examples.
Page spreads have the illustration on the right hand side and a one line text including the babies name, describing the toes on the left with a colorful background.
A great addition for any library with the appropriate age group.
Written/ oral
R+
Pre-Kindergarten

[Alexandria]

This is an adorable little board book that uses rhyming and photos to illustrate all the adorable baby toes that anyone could want. I always thought it was strange how happy baby toes made all the grandmothers and moms in my life, but they really are adorable dancing little beans!

There is a lot of room for fun reader/listener playing when reading Toesy Toes. The reader could tickle the baby's toes, ask them to point to their toes, and so on. It's a great book to incorporate reading time into play time and get books in front of itty bitty readers as early as possible.

[Eva_Amaré]

Even brother who doesn't care much for babies liked this book. Pictures are kind of a big deal when deciding whether we like a book or not and I for one love books that use real photography, because I'm super sophisticated, unlike mama's other child who thinks his crayon squiggles are art. Anyway, the babies are cute, there's lots of toes and all the toe biting and pulling was pretty funny too.👶👶👶

[Ruth Anne]

Clear photographs of babies and their many varieties of toesy toes like: sunny-funny, squishy-squeezy, and sudsy –wudsy. Each left hand page has the baby’s name and the description of the toes on a pastel colored background. Each right hand page is a color photograph of the baby. Overall this is a diverse celebration of babies and toesy toes. Simple and perfect for reading to babies.

[Tasha]

This board book focuses entirely on toes and the joy of discovering them. With a diverse cast of children in the vivid and charming photographs that fill the pages, this one is a great pick for the smallest children. The book has a simple format, bright colors and a rollicking rhythm that keeps the pace brisk and lively. Sure to have everyone playing with their own toes! Appropriate for ages 1-2.

[Vicki]

Anyone who has read to an infant or child under age two knows the value of books about body parts. This book does this exploration exceptionally well by featuring playful, unique language choices and includes a diversity of skin colors and also a baby that has physical features identifying him/her/them as a child with a disability (most likely Down's Syndrome). Loved this book!

[Ashley]

In the same vein as Kiss Tickle Cuddle Hug, this book has pictures of babies from diverse ethnic backgrounds and uses their names. Excellent for babies and toddlers obsessed with pictures of babies. Great to use in babytime as an example of photo books, and parents can tickle baby's toes as you read.

[Luciana]

A favourite!

A great book for babies & toddlers who love looking at real pictures of children!

The Toesy Toes books talks about all kinds of toes that young children can have...lots of smiles & giggles to be had!

A great read!!!

[Andrés]

Real life photos are always captivating! Broad diversity of baby names and skin tones. "Piggledy-wiggledy toes" is hard to say outloud, but the unusual adjectives provide variety from other children's books.

[Liz]

Each spread shows a baby doing different things with their adorable toes. The photos easily lended themselves to having grown-ups interacting with their babies' toes and bodies during storytime. An Elsie favorite. Still annoyed that it's "splishy-spashy," not "splishy-splashy."

[Vicki]

Love board books that use real photographs! A nice tale of toes on toddlers and babies.

[June]

Colorful baby pictures celebrate toes

[Annese]

The pictures made me cackle!

[Lauren]

This is a fantastic book. The pictures of the babies are absolutely adorable. I love that the book shows different babies with different looks. This book will be beloved by many young people.

[Jennifer]

Simple, but wonderfully inclusive. My daughter adored the pictures.

[Kelly]

Be sure to play with baby's toes when reading this book to them!

[Zoe]

Good babies, but not enough baby faces

[Maeve]

Babies and toddlers show off their cute toes.

The photographs were great, but the language was "cutesy" when it could have included a rich vocubulary.

[Tina]

A beautiful and diverse board book! Giving it to a friend.

[Paul Coccia]

Sarah Tsiang’s “Toesy Toes” is a fantastic board book that is engaging to young children while also being great for adults to read to these children. The text is poetic in terms of word choice, rhyme, sound and pace and the pictures of children and their toes very cute and wide-ranging. At the end, the surprise or reversal of expectations was both delightful and unexpected for me as an adult reader and added another element to the book to engage an adult. This book would make an excellent gift for expecting or new parents/guardians as well as for newborns, infants and toddlers. Their parents/guardians will be thankful for a book like this that has appeal for the readers too and I can see this book being a regular part of a child’s story time.

[Amy!]

I love the variety of babies and names, and the simple text is perfect for the tiniest humans.